Presented by Canterbury Cathedral and ICCI

The first Public Theology Lecture in the new series of Michael Ramsey events, presented by the Revd Prof Jonathan Arnold.

From Anthony Gormley’s declaration that the Arts Council is now the ‘Guardian of our spiritual welfare’ to Jimi Hendrix’s conviction that ‘music is my religion’, the relationship between faith, spirituality and the arts has become increasingly complex.

In this talk we will ask whether the arts are now acting as a kind of surrogate religion for those who define themselves as spiritual but not religious. We will consider how, in secular modernity, the supremacy of word, logic, and reason are competing with our appreciation of the bodily, physiological, psychological, sensual, and emotional means of experiencing the spiritual or sacred.

The interpretation of the arts as a spiritual resource has become more widespread, where ideas of spirituality and sacrality are extraordinarily and increasingly diverse. But the ‘resonance’ of Christian heritage, and for many a distinctively Trinitarian theology, prevail.

 These issues naturally raise provocative questions: does a ‘spiritual’ experience of transcendence equate to an experience of God? Or is a ‘spiritual’ experience a heightened mental state and an enhanced sense of connection to community? If an ineffable God is directly accessible in some way through the arts, whether secular or sacred, then what need is there of scripture, doctrine, or church tradition?

These and other questions will be explored in this first Michael Ramsey Lecture. Do join us

Revd Prof Jonathan Arnold is the Michael Ramsay Chair of Faith, Culture and the Arts, at the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of Kent.